Lake Malawi Species • Cynotilapia Afra and Cynotilapia Mbamba as tankmates

[Cichlider23]

In terms of aggression, how would Cynotilapia Afra Jalo Reef do with Cynotilapia Mbamba (this fish: https://www.tampabaycichlids.com/produc ... an-cichlid) as tankmates? I have a 55 gallon. In general, how do the different Cynotilapia species do together? I was originally going for a Cynotilapia Afra Jalo Reef species tank, but am considering adding other Cynotilapia species to the tank.

[fishboy75]

I'm certainly no expert but I believe that fish is actually Cynotilapia aurifrons. In any case, why do you want to mix two Cynotilapia species together? The females will be hard to differentiate and you will never know if you have pure offspring. How many Afra, now knows as zebroides, do you currently have? There are certainly other options than another Cynotilapia although you may be limited by the size of your tank.

[Fogelhund]

For the reasons that fishboy has stated, I would highly recommend against mixing them. Either go with a species tank, or something that is quite different.

[noki]

If you don't care about saving fry, and don't save fry unless you know for sure what you are saving, it may not be a disaster. Cynotilapia may allow multiple males, but the problem with such closely related is that one species of male may not color up much. It may just be one big group, and one species may dominate.